


A Boy Dipped in Red

by sal_amander



Series: His Grey Wings [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Homestuck
Genre: Abused dave, Abusive Bro, FTM Dave, FTM Dave Strider, Trans Dave, Trans Dave Strider, abuse tw, dave strider needs a hug, harry adopts a kid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 09:33:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21336058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sal_amander/pseuds/sal_amander
Summary: The world around him was spinning, and black splotched his vision. He could hear his brother shout- but it was… muted, somehow. Distant, and not there. His head swam, but the only thing he could look at was the growing red stain on his hoodie, and the sword impaling his chest.Or: Harry adopts a kid.(I recommend starting at the beginning of the series, please ^^")
Series: His Grey Wings [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1476032
Comments: 6
Kudos: 64





	A Boy Dipped in Red

* * *

_ “New update. Package arrival expected: Tomorrow, six am,” _ a robotic voice chimed from a phone on the countertop. Both of which were sprinkled with strands of blonde hair that, at this minute, continued to pile up.

The scratch of scissors on hair stopped for a moment, and a somewhat high, young voice answered. “Siri, off.”

A ding responded, signaling the machine turned off, and the voice sighed, cutting a few more places on their head, and setting the scissors down.

There was a faint smile on his face, as he threaded his fingers through his hair, swishing and fluffing it. It was  _ short _ , wonderfully so, and he felt lighter among the loose blonde hair surrounding him on the floor and counter.

Dave scrubbed at his hair with a towel, trying to get any stray hairs loose. 

He felt giddy, elated even, but he was nervous as well- how would he explain this to-

He heard the front door open, and he paled. No- no he wasn’t ready, he- Dave looked down at the loose blonde hair on the floor. He wanted to take it back, hide, and not think about bringing it up to bro ever again.

He heard the steps get closer to the bathroom, and quickly grabbed all the hair and trashed it, taking a few paper towels -some wet, some dry- and piling them over. Hopefully that’ll work. He pulled a beanie over his head and checked the mirror to make sure his hair was hidden.

It was.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. “Hey, ‘Liz, hurry the fuck up. Just got home- food’s on the table.”

Dave winced at his dead name. “I- just a sec, Bro, i’ll be out in a moment!” 

Bro grumbled a response, leaving.

Dave took a shaky breath, and toweled off any loose hairs on his body, trashed the towel, and put his hoodie back on. He stared at the door for maybe a minute, before finally giving in and leaving the bathroom, content that what he had just done was hidden.

He stepped over blankets, bowls of rotting food, and questionable items on his way to the kitchen. He had tried to clean it all up once, but Bro had trashed it in less than a day afterwards. He has to be content on just keeping his own room, and the bathroom, clean. It sucked.

After nearly tripping on the third oddly placed loose sword, he walked in, and saw bro in the adjoining living room’s couch, eating whatever take out food he got for himself. On the counter was a box of fried rice and a spoon, which he grabbed and left with quickly. 

He winced at bro’s wave of acknowledgement, and got to his room as quickly as he could. Inside it was cleaner, and smelled a lot nicer. There were a few things scattered, but it was all very tame. Especially compared to the rest of the house.

He grabbed a bottle of apple juice and sat at his desk, shoveling down the food. Bro had left early, and he didn’t usually keep food at the apartment that Dave was allowed to eat, and forgot to leave something. At least, Dave hoped he forgot, and not the other option.

Point was, he hadn’t eaten all day. The only sustenance he had was two bottles of aj and whatever trace things were in tap water. He was hungry.

His food was finished, and he tossed it in the bin next to his desk. The less he had to interact with Bro, the more time he had to come up with a reason as to why he cut his hair.

It’s too hot? No, it’s December. Even in Texas, December is kinda cold.

He was bored? Not a good reason.

He got high? In all seriousness, Bro probably wouldn’t care about that. What he would care about though, is the prospect of him getting into his stash. He would be dead meat.

Dave sat quietly, thinking.

He knew he could  _ never _ tell Bro he was trans. Best case scenario, Bro kicked him out. Worst case…

He remembers the swords out in the hall that he kept tripping over.

He didn’t want to think about the worst case scenario.

It was pondering this when he thought of a solution. What was that one thing Bro was watching more of currently? Eh, he’ll look it up later. But it had a blonde…  _ girl _ character with something close to his new haircut.

He could say he thought it looked cool.

Ok. Alright. He had this in a bag. If Bro asked, he had his excuse.

Good.

A knock brought him out of his musings. “Liz, get out here.”

He sounded… mad. That wasn’t good.

Dave frowned. Did he find the hair?

He got up and opened the door quickly, backing away as Bro entered the room.

Dave zeroed in on something in his hands.

A package.

Oh.

Bro lifted the package up, showing it was opened up. Dave could see the binder inside. “What the  _ fuck _ is this?”

No- Nonono, it wasn’t supposed to come in until tomorrow.

Dave was backing away slowly, wincing. “I-I- Bro,,”

Bro grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, sneering. “What the  _ fuck _ is wrong with you?! Are you some sort of fucking  _ dyke bitch?! _ ”

“I- no! I- I’m not- please-” Dave hadn’t a care to the tears welling up in fear.

Bro tossed him to the floor, backing up with the package. “Some fucking  _ tranny fairy _ then?!”

“Bro- Please I-”

The taller man hissed, tearing the package, and binder in it, clean in two. Looking down, he tossed the pieces to the floor next to Dave. “I’ll meet you on the roof in five. I want to end this fucking  _ bullshit. _ ”

Dave took in a breath, and watched as Bro left, slamming his door shut. He sat still for a few moments, shivering and watching the door like a hawk, waiting for Bro to burst back in.

It didn’t happen, and Dave finally let out a small hiccup, wiping at his eyes with his hoodie’s sleeves. He stood carefully, hurrying over to his closet, and slid a second hoodie over the first. Having two thick layers may not stop a blade, but it helped.

Palming the scars littering his arms over the sleeves’ layers, Dave knew that very well.

He stilled in front of the mirror on his wall, staring. 

What would happen if he- if he…

Didn’t go up?

Up to the roof.

…

Bro would be pissed, that was for sure. Maybe even more so than he already was. He didn’t want to chance it, and time was running out.

He made to leave, nearing the before pausing, holding onto his necklace, one that each of his three friends had a copy of.

After a moment, he turned back, and set the necklace under his pillow.

_ ‘To keep it safe’ _ was what he told himself, but he doubted it.

He knew why he took it off, and his hand itched to send a message. To Jade. To Rose. 

To… John.

He typed up a group memo quickly, and faltered. If Bro was going to-

If… if he didn’t come back, if Bro went too far again. Too far for the last time…

He typed up a few quick messages, and hit the que.

If he didn’t come to cancel it by tomorrow afternoon, it would send.

That was fine.

Bro probably won’t-

He wouldn’t go as far as to-

Fuck, he really didn’t like thinking about this.

He turned, and picked up a shitty katana on his way out of his room, tearing off his sunglasses to wipe at his eyes, and tossing them on his floor.

He made his way up.

* * *

It was snowing when he got to the roof.

Snowing, in Texas.

It was almost ironic, in a sad sort of way, Dave thought. The cold steel of the handel bit his skin, but he held tight. He didn’t see Bro when he got up there, so they were starting immediately and he might pop out at any time. No talk before hand- something Bro only did when he was beyond angry.

His chances, he thought, were getting lower the longer he was out here.

A klang startled him, and he barely parried a swipe from Bro. The recoil jostled his arms, and made him dizzy, and he backed off quickly. He wanted space, but Bro was going to have none of it, following him quickly and throwing slash after stab.

It was an onslaught, and Dave was barely managing. He gave a considerable yelp when Bro’s blade cut right through his sleeves and a bit into his arm. He had sharpened his sword, and that made Dave even panickier. 

After the first solid hit, more and more appeared, him down quickly. A few on his arms, some on his legs, two or three on his torso.

A blade flew toward his face, and he was almost able to tilt his head out of the way, instead getting a slash from his left forehead to his mid jawline. 

Dave screamed, dropping his sword and hands flying to his face. 

A mistake.

Moments later, he heard Bro growl something- but he didn’t catch what.

He was watching as Bro drove his sword into his chest, and felt it spear out of his back.

Blood splattered on the ground, and Dave fell to his knees, gasping. He coughed, gagged, and tried to scream, but no sound came out. Only blood, bubbling up and splotching his hands and the ground.

He saw Bro shuffling back, and his teary gaze slowly drifted up to Bro’s confused, hateful stare.

His vision blurred, and he heard a faint buzzing, and he couldn’t pay attention as his eyes drifted back down to watch blood pour from the wound.

His head swam, and he felt almost light again, but very differently. He coughed again, feeling the sword scrape around his chest, and blood splattered out again.

He didn’t notice when his head hit the ground with a thud and grew paler than before.

He didn’t notice Bro slide the sword out of him and roll him onto his back.

He didn’t notice his supposed caretakers angry shouting, telling him to get up.

All he could see was a blackness overtake his vision, till he was out completely. Till he was… gone.

* * *

The doorknob appeared, blinking red and screeching violently. It had shocked Harry, who was sitting down with some books, and nearly made him spill his tea.

The doorknob hadn’t done that before, ever. He sat up quickly, dusting off, and hurried over to open it.

What greeted him shook him to his core.

On the floor, lit up by fluorescent lights, lied a boy- around eleven. Blood was pooling around the kid, and a massive stab wound cut through hoodies and leaked blood continuously, as was a large cut on the kid’s face.

Harry ran up immediately, placing pressure on the main would with his hands. It started knitting together moments later, and he repeated this on the boy’s face.

They would both scar, though.

Why did this happen though? Both Crowley and Grif where completely healed, at least physically, when they arrived. 

Harry’s thoughts drifted away when the boy started to stir. 

“Kid- hey kid?”

The kid shot into a sitting position and flew away from Harry quickly, breathing heavily and eyes dilated.

A moment later, and the kid finally focussed in, and stared at Harry with a confused expression.

“Wha- where am I?”

Guarded, and confused, all in that sentence.

Harry frowned. “You- died, kid.”

Oddly enough, the kid’s shoulders slumped with ease, and he leaned forwards. He seemed… calm. It was troubling. “Oh. Am I in hell, then? Seems kinda nice though, dontcha think? All these plants.”

Oh, that was… saddening.

“Well… no, kid. This isn’t hell-”

“Some other equivalent then? The underworld, or some other obscure religion? Or- wait, is it from a religion?”

Harry’s eyebrows scrunched worriedly. “Kid- no, you didn’t do anything  _ wrong _ .”

That made the kid shut up quickly, and shift back. He was guarded again, and wasn’t that worrying.

“You didn’t do, well,  _ anything _ yet, really.”

Harry swore he heard an offhand comment of  _ ‘rude’  _ but he disregarded it.

“You died early.”

That caught the kid’s attention. “Wh, huh?”

“You died too early, kid.” Harry supplied, brain sorting through the kids past and probable future.

Oh. That hit… close to home. Too close.

The kid was quiet, for a moment, and suddenly his eyes widened and his hands flung to his face. “I- you saw my eyes-”

Harry blinked. “What?”   
  


“My- hmmh,” he mumbled, angling his head slightly down and keeping his hands cupped over.

Was the kid self conscious about red eyes? It made sense, he supposed. If he had seen this kid before he became the Master of Death, he would have recoiled- Voldemort’s eyes fresh on his mind back then.

Now, all he wanted to do was help.

“You want some tinted glasses, kid? I know someone with a… similar problem,” he took a pair of Crowley’s glasses from a storage drawer in the waiting room and passed them over. He’d never seen a kid shove glasses on so fast before, truly. 

The kids nose scrunched at the cold metal and different shape than he was used to- triangles to circles- but he looked back up. “I- thanks. Freaking out like that wasn’t, uh, cool of me.”

He… called that freaking out? All he did was cover his eyes up and shrink back a bit. Hardly a display at all, and he voiced as such.

“You’re fine kid. Trust me.”

“Eh, I don’t trust evil meta-overlords who judge my soul, sorry.”

Harry cocked his head. This was  _ really _ his oddest indoctorate yet. “Metawhat? Im not here to, uh, judge your soul, or whatever you think. I’m a balancer of sorts, right?”

The kid gave him a blank look.

“Right, ok. I’m  ** _The Overseer_ ** _ .  _ I make sure things go well throughout space, time, the absence of those two… In the most complex and also simple terms, everything. I make sure it  _ works _ . Now, in your dimension, verse, thing, you had an  _ extremely _ important role. But something happened, and you died too early, so you came to me. You have the option to move on and go to the afterlife, and have me sort out something to fix your verse,”

Harry flexed his hands a bit, working out tension in them. “Or, you can join me. Become a  ** _balancer_ ** . Someone who helps me with my job, kinda. You can stay in your dimension or hang out here, but you’ll play the role you need to in your universe, and also help me out with other stuff.”

Dave frowned. “So like, work, all the time?”

“Oh- no, sorry,” Harry waved his hands, “not at all. You’ll mainly do whatever you want. I might call you to help once every few years possibly. You’ll just do what you want in your universe- yours is particular in turning things right so it’s a good one to be in, really. And you can come here and do whatever, and travel to other dimensions… you’re pretty free to do whatever, to be honest.”

“Oh.”

“I’m Harry, by the way.”

“Dave- I- I’m Dave. David.”

Dave was silent for a moment, before speaking up. “Will I… have to go back- to, um,”

Harry’s face hardened. “ _ No. _ I took a check to see what happened- hope you don’t mind- but you will  _ not _ go back to that man. If you want, I can set you up in your universe, but you will always have a room here.”

He beckoned with his hands, leading him to the office, which had expanded again. Part of the empty book wall had made way to another hall and a full kitchen and dining room, and seemed to be fully stocked if Grif rummaging around was any hint. 

The office itself had changed as well. The room was a large living room, and a glass set of doors set the office apart now. There were two couches framing the sides of the fireplace, and two armchairs framing beside those at an angel.

Harry pointed down the hall leading to the bedrooms and outer-dimension, “anyone who joins has a room they can stay in, and any amenities you could think of, really. Room, food, other stuff, I don’t leave my own hanging.” He turned to smile at Dave, and ruffled the kid’s hair.

“Can I- um, will I be able to contact my friends? From here?”

“Yep, any communication is possible here. Don’t worry about that.”

Dave stopped again, thinking. “I… have some stuff I’d like to- um, bring back, if thats ok?”

He nodded. “I’ll get them, just let me know.”

“I… I accept.”

Harry grinned. “Welcome to the family, kid.”


End file.
